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The closest ambulance was at Sunbury, which was 10 minutes away, but that service was not contacted because officers there were on a meal break. The meal break is only allowed when there are no immediate threats, such as a suspected cardiac arrest or a person has stopped breathing.

Instead a MICA service at St Albans and an Ambulance Victoria helicopter were called in.

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It is believed the CFA officers waited 10 minutes before calling Ambulance Victoria again and the Sunbury service was then called in.

The woman died en route to The Alfred hospital.

Ambulance Employees Australia general secretary Steve McGhie told 3AW the incident highlighted the juggle between resourcing, the health of paramedics and emergency demands.

"In a case like this, such a high-priority case, one would’ve thought that they could’ve been disturbed," Mr McGhie said.

He defended the meal break but said it put pressure on the services.

"Effectively, they have to be taken out of service to be provided a meal break," Mr McGhie said.

"If not, it becomes too dangerous or too fatiguing and other health and safety issues are involved."

Tony Walker, Ambulance Victoria’s general manager of regional services, told 3AW it was investigating the incident, including a recording of the call made to the service.

He confirmed the Sunbury service was not dispatched because they had been on a meal break.

Mr Walker denied the incident was directly related to the industrial dispute with ambulance officers.

He said the service was constantly balancing the need for services against ensuring the safety of its staff. He said the officers would feel devastated by the woman’s death.

State Health Minister David Davis said the case was an operational matter for Ambulance Victoria to investigate.